Middle Age by Joyce Carol Oates
A Romance
Harper Collins - 2001
ISBN: 0066209443 - Hardcover

Reviewed by Beverly J. Rowe, MyShelf.com
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Fans of Joyce Carol Oates will recognize her trademark style of writing with sentence fragments and fractured thoughts, and, if you aren't a fan, you will be after you read this novel in which she chronicles the lives of the wealthy residents of Salthill. Charismatic Adam Berendt is a 50-something artist and sculptor who dies as the result of an untimely heart attack when rescuing a child from drowning in a boating incident. His circle of friends is stunned and, ultimately, adversely affected by his death. What an enigma he was. He was wealthy, but lived like a poor man. He was loved by everyone, but avoided any intimate relationships.

Adam's attorney, Roger Cavanagh, forged Adam's name to his will, post-mortem, and convinced Marina Troy (who was in love with Adam) to witness the signature, sealing her fate as his accomplice in the deed. Implementing the will brought to light the many ways the man was different from who he seemed. Couples divorce, split up, get back together and disappear because of his death and the mystery of his life. Teenagers renounce their parents, and adults embark on missions of self-discovery.

The title of the book suggests that it is a romance, but it can't be classified as a romance in the usual meaning of the genre. The characters are offbeat with strange agendas, yet there is some of all of us in each of their personalities. Oates wrings every drop of emotion out of the characters and her readers. She teaches us life's basic truths while getting us involved with the lives of these wonderful characters. It is a compelling read. Oates has become a literary addiction for me.